This invention relates to a liquid container, a liquid ejection device and a liquid container case.
As a liquid ejection device, an ink jet printer has been known, in which ink is ejected from a nozzle to perform printing. This type of printer has been provided with a recording head having a plurality of nozzles and a carriage having the recording head. With the reciprocating movement of the carriage, ink is ejected from the nozzles to perform printing. An ink cartridge storing ink supplied to the nozzles is provided in this type of printer as a replaceable liquid container.
In the case of the printer for printing a large-sized paper sheet, a large quantity of ink is used, so an ink cartridge storing a large volume of ink is needed. When such an ink cartridge is mounted on a carriage and moved, a great deal of load is applied to a driving part. Therefore, in the printer for printing a large-sized paper sheet, the ink cartridge has not been mounted on the carriage (the constitution is the so-called off carriage type).
The ink cartridge used in the off carriage type is generally made up of an ink pack storing ink and a case for storing the ink pack. In more detail, the ink pack is generally formed such that an outlet member having an ink outlet port is sandwiched between two sheets of laminated films, and the peripheries of the films are welded to each other. The case is formed of plastics or the like, and stores the ink pack with the outlet member projected outward (as disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2002-120382 and JP-A-2000-296626). As indicated in JP-A-2002-120382, generally one ink pack is stored in one case. Therefore, in the printer including ink of two or more colors, the ink cartridges are arranged corresponding to the number of the colors. Consequently, in the printer including ink of two or more colors, the space for providing the ink cartridges cannot be reduced, so it is difficult to reduce the size.
On the other hand, in the ink cartridge disclosed in JP-A-2000-296626, one ink pack having a plurality of storing parts, each for storing ink is accommodated in one case. In more detail, the ink pack disclosed in JP-A-2000-296626 is so constructed that a plurality of storing parts are defined by welding two sheets of films and ink of different colors is stored in the respective storing parts.
In the ink cartridge of JP-A-2000-296626, however, the intervals of the respective storing parts storing ink of the respective colors are determined depending on the size of the welded part. Consequently, it is difficult to further reduce the size of the ink cartridge. Since the ink of different colors is stored in one ink pack, when ink of a specified color is consumed, it is impossible to replace only the ink of that color, and the whole ink pack needs to be replaced. Therefore, the ink stored in the ink pack cannot be used effectively.
The invention has been made in the light of such circumstances and provides a liquid container, a liquid ejection device and a liquid container case, which may effectively use a liquid stored in the liquid container and may be reduced in size in simple constitution.